Union wants to keep RCMP civilian employees from moving to Phoenix

Injunction application will be heard by a judge on Wednesday, Nov. 29

Public servants protest over problems with the Phoenix pay system outside the Office of the Prime Minister on Oct. 12, 2017. CUPE has filed an injunction in federal court to stop more RCMP civilian employees from being transferred to Phoenix. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has filed an injunction application in federal court that would prevent more RCMP civilian employees from being transferred to the embattled Phoenix pay system.

Most RCMP civilian employees are not on the Phoenix pay system, though employees who are promoted or reclassified within the organization will have their data transferred now.

The injunction would only apply to approximately 750 civilian employees who are scheduled to officially move to the Phoenix pay system next April and it would prevent them from being moved to Phoenix before then.

Last year, CUPE applied to the public service labour relations board to represent these civilian members. It was the first such bid since the Supreme Court of Canada granted Mounties the right to collective bargaining in January 2015.

With the federal government anticipating another three years before the system is fixed, CUPE communications officer Hugh Pouliot said it was time for the union to step in.

"The current situation with the Phoenix pay system is obviously a fiasco," he said. "Until an effective solution has been achieved for Phoenix, why add fuel to the fire, why grow the problem?"

If the injunction is successful, any staffing changes entered after Dec. 1 will be barred from entering the Phoenix system until April 26, 2018, the date employees were originally scheduled to be deemed in the public service.

"The impact of the injunction, simply put, would be to stop the transfer of the remaining approximately 750 employees to the Phoenix pay system," Pouliot said.

Approximately 250 civilian employees with the RCMP, about a quarter of the members CUPE is seeking to represent, are already in the Phoenix system, including all employees hired after 2015, he said.